


Little One

by TheRubyStorm



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Gen, Heavy Angst, Infant Death, Mpreg, Tissue Warning, all of the feels, and my lack of tagging skills, sorry for all the feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-16
Updated: 2015-01-16
Packaged: 2018-03-07 20:29:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3182084
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRubyStorm/pseuds/TheRubyStorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only hours after being thrashed by the Hulk, Loki gives birth to a daughter he didn't realize he was carrying, only to be told that she won't survive...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Little One

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually inspired by a previous one-shot I wrote on fanfiction.net that was a fill for a norsekink prompt where Loki sings his newborn child a lullaby. (If anyone want to read the original one-shot, I'll be glad to post it. There's tons of fluff in the other one, I promise.)
> 
> But this one is actually inspired by a song from one of my favorite musicals, 'A Tale of Two Cities' called 'Little One' which is basically the peasants song of mourning for the death of an innocent child as he's carried off to be buried. (Please check it out if you have the chance; it's an absolutely wonderful musical.)
> 
> So after hearing that song, the idea popped in my head and simply would not leave me alone until I wrote it down. It was going to be much longer but it started to feel like it was becoming drawn out so I decided to leave it as is.
> 
> As always, reviews are greatly appreciated!
> 
> ((TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR INFANT DEATH))

“But she cried... I heard her cry... She's alive.” Loki said quietly, his eyes betraying the tears that were threatening to start .

“For now. It's a miracle she's hung on this long.” Bruce softly corrected, his hand resting on Loki's shoulder in sympathy. “But the Tesseract's energy has done too much damage. That and...” He swallowed hard, remembering the thrashing he had given Loki just hours before. “T-there's nothing we can do...” he choked.

Loki could tell that Bruce blamed himself for the child's current state and it would have been so easy for him to do so as well. But no... If there was anyone to blame, it was himself. Had he even known she existed, he would have never made the deal with the Chitauri in the first place. None of this would have ever happened. He had allowed the desire for 'unlimited power' to overtake him and now she was paying the price.

“C-can I hold her?” he asked as his eyes drifted over to the tiny figure in the incubator. “They took her away so quickly, I didn't really get a chance to see her.”

The request was so simple, it almost threw Bruce for a loop. He had expected a complete meltdown from Loki at this news at the very least, considering the past few days. It was almost unnerving to see him this calm, this defeated...  Still, he saw nothing wrong with the request, so he nodded his agreement before lifting the tiny body out of the incubator and gently placing her in Loki's arms.

Looking down at her frail figure, he couldn't get past how small she really was. _'Much smaller than she felt coming out...'_ he thought as he adjusted her in his arms. He had hardly expected her arrival when he collapsed in pain after the Hulk's bashing and was nearly as surprised as everyone else was when she arrived a short time later. After that, it all became a blur; blinding waves of pain followed by bone-chilling silence, a room full of doctors hovering over the tiny, bloody form that had come forth, Thor being forced out of the room shouting that he would not leave his brother and niece when they needed him most.

_Niece..._

It was a girl... He had brought forth a daughter and now he was losing her.

All the wires enveloping her body hours before had been removed except for a small tube in her nose to keep her breathing easily and it was now all he could watch, the simple rise and fall of her chest that let him know she was still hanging on.

“How long?” Loki asked after a moment.

“An hour... Maybe two.”

He paused for a moment before letting out a long breath. “Can I have some time alone with her...to say good-bye?”

Slowly, Bruce nodded. “Of course."  Before leaving the room, he turned back to face Loki; redness framing his tired eyes. "I-I'm so sorry...” he said quietly before closing the door with a soft click.

Finally alone, only now did he really get a good look at her. Despite being 10 weeks premature, he could tell how much she had taken on his features; his familiar pale skin and wisps of dark hair already showing themselves. “You are a pretty little thing, aren't you young Kesi?” he said softly, running his finger across her bruised cheek. He had almost forgotten what it was like to hold a child in his arms; a feeling that he hadn't felt since Sleipnir. But this...no. He had already had one taken from him; he wasn't going to lose this one too. It wasn't too late. She was a fighter; even Bruce had said that it was a miracle she was still hanging on. He could take her away, escape to Jotunheim, anything to save her...

But she wouldn't survive the journey and he knew that better than anyone.

If these were to be his last moments with her, he was going to make them count.

He sat with her, rocked her in his arms, told her how much he loved her...and that he was sorry. As the minutes ticked on, he could sense her energies growing weaker, her body heaving with struggling breaths as she fought to stay alive. Every gasp tore at his heart. He wanted more than anything to ease her pain, to let her know that she could let go. When all else failed, his mind drifted back to his childhood in Asgard; a lullaby that he had remembered his mot...Frigga...singing to him when he was very young. And feeling he had nothing to lose, began to sing as he gently rocked her in his arms.

**_'Little one, ease your heart.  Close your eyes. And let dreams take you far. Far away from the storm to a summer day, warm and fair. Hardly a care finds you, little one...'_ **

At the sound of his voice, he could feel her relax in his arms and he softly smiled despite himself; thankful he could give her some relief as he continued.

_**'Little one, ease your heart. Close your eyes. And let dreams take you far. Far away from the screams and the smell of death in the air... Hardly a care finds you, little one.'** _

Slowly, her breathing became more shallow as he kept going to keep from spiraling out of control.

_**'Little one, mind your way.  Don't let people without hearts step on you and toss you away. If you'll wait and you'll pray, Papa will save you and hide you away.'** _

Only now had he realized that the rise and fall of her chest had stopped under his touch.

_No please... Not yet... I'm not ready to let her go yet..._

**_'Little one, heed my voice. Little one, mind your way. Just you wait...'_ **

Leaning over, he placed a gentle kiss to her forehead and let out a choked sob when he finally accepted that she was gone...

 ** _'Just you wait..."_**   he choked out before dissolving in tears, the tiny body clutched to his chest as he screamed; his heart completely wrenched in two.

 

~THE END~


End file.
